1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to apparatus for mounting components on circuit boards. In particular, it relates to apparatus for use in positioning and aligning terminals of a component with circuitry of a circuit board.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Integrated circuit modules oftentimes called chips contain a variety of miniaturized electronic circuitry and are widely used on printed wiring circuit boards manufactured by the Electronics and Communications Industry to form large composite electrical circuits. A typical chip is a small modular package located on a ceramic substrate and contains electronic circuitry coupled to leads that extend to contacts or terminals positioned about the perimeter of the substrate.
Socket apparatus has been developed for use in mounting the circuit modules, hereinafter referred to as components, onto circuit boards and interconnecting the components with printed circuitry of the circuit board. In yet another arrangement, receptacle apparatus is mounted on a circuit board to receive and secure a component onto the circuit board. As components are constructed with more complex circuitry such as microprocessors each component has more contacts and terminals and requires large complex sockets and receptacles thereby imposing demands for large amounts of space on a circuit board. Components are sometimes assembled onto a circuit board by soldering the terminals of the component directly to the circuit board. Although this method eliminates the use of sockets and receptacles designed to receive the components a problem arises in positioning and aligning the contacts and terminals of the component with circuitry of the circuit board prior to the soldering process.
Accordingly, a need exists in the art for apparatus arranged to position and align a component with respect to a circuit board prior to soldering the component terminals to circuitry of the circuit board.